MLK Day - Campuses Benefit Communities

Posted by Paula Paine on March 18, 2014 in
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was used by Ottawa University campuses as an opportunity to contribute to their local communities. The Phoenix, Brookfield, Jeffersonville, Kansas City, and Ottawa campuses all took time on MLK day to honor the spirit of making the world a better place as Martin Luther King Jr. worked to do throughout his lifetime.

Faculty and staff of the Arizona campus volunteered their time and services at the Desert Mission Community Center. Originally a food bank, the center has expanded its services to assist with the health and social needs of struggling families in the Phoenix area. The center now includes a learning center, children’s dental clinic, adult day care center, community health center, behavioral health center, and a community revitalization program. The volunteers from the university helped to pack dental hygiene kits for students, interacted with adult day care residents, and packed emergency food boxes.

The Wisconsin Campus provided a 20 minute presentation for their students on MLK day. They closed their campus on the following Friday for students to engage in community service at the Oak Creek Public Library.

The Indiana campus partnered with MedVenture for a community service project to benefit the homeless. The goal of this project was to secure food and warm clothing for a group of homeless people that were forced to relocate when construction began on a bridge at their previous location. The organization created to benefit this displaced group is called Exit 0.

The Kansas City campus contributed to the community by helping out at the Rose Brooks shelter for battered women. The 16 volunteers from the campus helped organize the shelter’s clothes donation area, cleaned throughout the shelter, and organized toys for their toy drive.

At The College in Ottawa, Kansas, students and community members attended a special MLK, Jr. Day presentation in the Fredrikson Chapel with speaker Katie Washington. Afterwards, students took part in community service at COF, KVC, Habitat for Humanity, Hope House, Meals on Wheels, and Prairie Paws Animal Shelter.